How Much to Charge for Food Photography

Food photography is a specialized area of the business
that largely depends on a photographer's ability to be creative and in
their understanding of how to make food look like it is ready to eat.
Food photography generally is a sub-section of advertising.
Professional pictures of food are generally intended for use in
cookbooks, on food packaging, on print advertisements or on menus. The
people that pay for this type of photography are usually business
people that are looking to enhance their sales growth. Here is a
step-by-step guide on how to charge for your services.

Step 1 - Determine the Variables

In food photography, there are several variables that can affect
what you will charge as a photographer. Generally speaking, the aspects
that can change the prices are as follows:

How the photographs will be used

Who will retain the rights to the photographs (copyright)

Consider these factors when you price out your services. You
undoubtedly should charge more if you will lose the rights to your
work. This means that the purchase of those photographs can use them in
subsequent places for the purpose of making additional money.

Step 2 - Hourly Rate

Determine your hourly rate according to what your local market can
and will bare. The best thing to do is to compare the work of other
local photographers and get a feel for what they charge. This will give
you a starting basis to put together an hourly charge for your
services. Remember the hourly rate will probably fluctuate when the
variables discussed in step 1 change.

Step 3 - Determine Post Production Fees

Many photographers in this domain will end up doing a great deal of
post production work. This includes everything from cropping and
retouching photos in the most simple way to re-engineering the
photograph to fit with the theme of the advertisement. Make sure you
put together a menu of services that can be used as a selection process
with your client.

Step 4 - Type Up and Display

Type up your fee arrangement schedule and print it out on your own
service menu. If you have a website, this is a good chance for you to
display this information online. Having a website does add credibility
to any individual that runs and owns their own business. Simply direct
your potential client to your website for them to review your pricing
structure. You can never be too detailed in your information. The more
detail you outline, the less discrepancies you will have as you are
hired and eventually paid for your work.